/*
 * Copyright (C) 2008-2009, Johannes E. Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
 * Copyright (C) 2009, Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
 * and other copyright owners as documented in the project's IP log.
 *
 * This program and the accompanying materials are made available
 * under the terms of the Eclipse Distribution License v1.0 which
 * accompanies this distribution, is reproduced below, and is
 * available at http://www.eclipse.org/org/documents/edl-v10.php
 *
 * All rights reserved.
 *
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 * without modification, are permitted provided that the following
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 *
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package org.eclipse.jgit.diff;

import java.text.MessageFormat;

import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.DiffInterruptedException;
import org.eclipse.jgit.internal.JGitText;
import org.eclipse.jgit.util.IntList;
import org.eclipse.jgit.util.LongList;

Diff algorithm, based on "An O(ND) Difference Algorithm and its Variations", by Eugene Myers.

The basic idea is to put the line numbers of text A as columns ("x") and the lines of text B as rows ("y"). Now you try to find the shortest "edit path" from the upper left corner to the lower right corner, where you can always go horizontally or vertically, but diagonally from (x,y) to (x+1,y+1) only if line x in text A is identical to line y in text B.

Myers' fundamental concept is the "furthest reaching D-path on diagonal k": a D-path is an edit path starting at the upper left corner and containing exactly D non-diagonal elements ("differences"). The furthest reaching D-path on diagonal k is the one that contains the most (diagonal) elements which ends on diagonal k (where k = y - x).

Example:

   H E L L O   W O R L D
   ____
 L     \___
 O         \___
 W             \________

Since every D-path has exactly D horizontal or vertical elements, it can only end on the diagonals -D, -D+2, ..., D-2, D.

Since every furthest reaching D-path contains at least one furthest reaching (D-1)-path (except for D=0), we can construct them recursively.

Since we are really interested in the shortest edit path, we can start looking for a 0-path, then a 1-path, and so on, until we find a path that ends in the lower right corner.

To save space, we do not need to store all paths (which has quadratic space requirements), but generate the D-paths simultaneously from both sides. When the ends meet, we will have found "the middle" of the path. From the end points of that diagonal part, we can generate the rest recursively.

This only requires linear space.

The overall (runtime) complexity is:

    O(N * D^2 + 2 * N/2 * (D/2)^2 + 4 * N/4 * (D/4)^2 + ...)
    = O(N * D^2 * 5 / 4) = O(N * D^2),

(With each step, we have to find the middle parts of twice as many regions as before, but the regions (as well as the D) are halved.)

So the overall runtime complexity stays the same with linear space, albeit with a larger constant factor.

Type parameters:
  • <S> – type of sequence.
/** * Diff algorithm, based on "An O(ND) Difference Algorithm and its Variations", * by Eugene Myers. * <p> * The basic idea is to put the line numbers of text A as columns ("x") and the * lines of text B as rows ("y"). Now you try to find the shortest "edit path" * from the upper left corner to the lower right corner, where you can always go * horizontally or vertically, but diagonally from (x,y) to (x+1,y+1) only if * line x in text A is identical to line y in text B. * <p> * Myers' fundamental concept is the "furthest reaching D-path on diagonal k": a * D-path is an edit path starting at the upper left corner and containing * exactly D non-diagonal elements ("differences"). The furthest reaching D-path * on diagonal k is the one that contains the most (diagonal) elements which * ends on diagonal k (where k = y - x). * <p> * Example: * * <pre> * H E L L O W O R L D * ____ * L \___ * O \___ * W \________ * </pre> * <p> * Since every D-path has exactly D horizontal or vertical elements, it can only * end on the diagonals -D, -D+2, ..., D-2, D. * <p> * Since every furthest reaching D-path contains at least one furthest reaching * (D-1)-path (except for D=0), we can construct them recursively. * <p> * Since we are really interested in the shortest edit path, we can start * looking for a 0-path, then a 1-path, and so on, until we find a path that * ends in the lower right corner. * <p> * To save space, we do not need to store all paths (which has quadratic space * requirements), but generate the D-paths simultaneously from both sides. When * the ends meet, we will have found "the middle" of the path. From the end * points of that diagonal part, we can generate the rest recursively. * <p> * This only requires linear space. * <p> * The overall (runtime) complexity is: * * <pre> * O(N * D^2 + 2 * N/2 * (D/2)^2 + 4 * N/4 * (D/4)^2 + ...) * = O(N * D^2 * 5 / 4) = O(N * D^2), * </pre> * <p> * (With each step, we have to find the middle parts of twice as many regions as * before, but the regions (as well as the D) are halved.) * <p> * So the overall runtime complexity stays the same with linear space, albeit * with a larger constant factor. * * @param <S> * type of sequence. */
@SuppressWarnings("hiding") public class MyersDiff<S extends Sequence> {
Singleton instance of MyersDiff.
/** Singleton instance of MyersDiff. */
public static final DiffAlgorithm INSTANCE = new LowLevelDiffAlgorithm() { @SuppressWarnings("unused") @Override public <S extends Sequence> void diffNonCommon(EditList edits, HashedSequenceComparator<S> cmp, HashedSequence<S> a, HashedSequence<S> b, Edit region) { new MyersDiff<>(edits, cmp, a, b, region); } };
The list of edits found during the last call to calculateEdits(Edit)
/** * The list of edits found during the last call to * {@link #calculateEdits(Edit)} */
protected EditList edits;
Comparison function for sequences.
/** Comparison function for sequences. */
protected HashedSequenceComparator<S> cmp;
The first text to be compared. Referred to as "Text A" in the comments
/** * The first text to be compared. Referred to as "Text A" in the comments */
protected HashedSequence<S> a;
The second text to be compared. Referred to as "Text B" in the comments
/** * The second text to be compared. Referred to as "Text B" in the comments */
protected HashedSequence<S> b; private MyersDiff(EditList edits, HashedSequenceComparator<S> cmp, HashedSequence<S> a, HashedSequence<S> b, Edit region) { this.edits = edits; this.cmp = cmp; this.a = a; this.b = b; calculateEdits(region); } // TODO: use ThreadLocal for future multi-threaded operations MiddleEdit middle = new MiddleEdit();
Entrypoint into the algorithm this class is all about. This method triggers that the differences between A and B are calculated in form of a list of edits.
Params:
  • r – portion of the sequences to examine.
/** * Entrypoint into the algorithm this class is all about. This method triggers that the * differences between A and B are calculated in form of a list of edits. * @param r portion of the sequences to examine. */
private void calculateEdits(Edit r) { middle.initialize(r.beginA, r.endA, r.beginB, r.endB); if (middle.beginA >= middle.endA && middle.beginB >= middle.endB) return; calculateEdits(middle.beginA, middle.endA, middle.beginB, middle.endB); }
Calculates the differences between a given part of A against another given part of B
Params:
  • beginA – start of the part of A which should be compared (0<=beginA<sizeof(A))
  • endA – end of the part of A which should be compared (beginA<=endA<sizeof(A))
  • beginB – start of the part of B which should be compared (0<=beginB<sizeof(B))
  • endB – end of the part of B which should be compared (beginB<=endB<sizeof(B))
/** * Calculates the differences between a given part of A against another * given part of B * * @param beginA * start of the part of A which should be compared * (0&lt;=beginA&lt;sizeof(A)) * @param endA * end of the part of A which should be compared * (beginA&lt;=endA&lt;sizeof(A)) * @param beginB * start of the part of B which should be compared * (0&lt;=beginB&lt;sizeof(B)) * @param endB * end of the part of B which should be compared * (beginB&lt;=endB&lt;sizeof(B)) */
protected void calculateEdits(int beginA, int endA, int beginB, int endB) { Edit edit = middle.calculate(beginA, endA, beginB, endB); if (beginA < edit.beginA || beginB < edit.beginB) { int k = edit.beginB - edit.beginA; int x = middle.backward.snake(k, edit.beginA); calculateEdits(beginA, x, beginB, k + x); } if (edit.getType() != Edit.Type.EMPTY) edits.add(edits.size(), edit); // after middle if (endA > edit.endA || endB > edit.endB) { int k = edit.endB - edit.endA; int x = middle.forward.snake(k, edit.endA); calculateEdits(x, endA, k + x, endB); } }
A class to help bisecting the sequences a and b to find minimal edit paths. As the arrays are reused for space efficiency, you will need one instance per thread. The entry function is the calculate() method.
/** * A class to help bisecting the sequences a and b to find minimal * edit paths. * * As the arrays are reused for space efficiency, you will need one * instance per thread. * * The entry function is the calculate() method. */
class MiddleEdit { void initialize(int beginA, int endA, int beginB, int endB) { this.beginA = beginA; this.endA = endA; this.beginB = beginB; this.endB = endB; // strip common parts on either end int k = beginB - beginA; this.beginA = forward.snake(k, beginA); this.beginB = k + this.beginA; k = endB - endA; this.endA = backward.snake(k, endA); this.endB = k + this.endA; } /* * This function calculates the "middle" Edit of the shortest * edit path between the given subsequences of a and b. * * Once a forward path and a backward path meet, we found the * middle part. From the last snake end point on both of them, * we construct the Edit. * * It is assumed that there is at least one edit in the range. */ // TODO: measure speed impact when this is synchronized Edit calculate(int beginA, int endA, int beginB, int endB) { if (beginA == endA || beginB == endB) return new Edit(beginA, endA, beginB, endB); this.beginA = beginA; this.endA = endA; this.beginB = beginB; this.endB = endB; /* * Following the conventions in Myers' paper, "k" is * the difference between the index into "b" and the * index into "a". */ int minK = beginB - endA; int maxK = endB - beginA; forward.initialize(beginB - beginA, beginA, minK, maxK); backward.initialize(endB - endA, endA, minK, maxK); for (int d = 1; ; d++) if (forward.calculate(d) || backward.calculate(d)) return edit; } /* * For each d, we need to hold the d-paths for the diagonals * k = -d, -d + 2, ..., d - 2, d. These are stored in the * forward (and backward) array. * * As we allow subsequences, too, this needs some refinement: * the forward paths start on the diagonal forwardK = * beginB - beginA, and backward paths start on the diagonal * backwardK = endB - endA. * * So, we need to hold the forward d-paths for the diagonals * k = forwardK - d, forwardK - d + 2, ..., forwardK + d and * the analogue for the backward d-paths. This means that * we can turn (k, d) into the forward array index using this * formula: * * i = (d + k - forwardK) / 2 * * There is a further complication: the edit paths should not * leave the specified subsequences, so k is bounded by * minK = beginB - endA and maxK = endB - beginA. However, * (k - forwardK) _must_ be odd whenever d is odd, and it * _must_ be even when d is even. * * The values in the "forward" and "backward" arrays are * positions ("x") in the sequence a, to get the corresponding * positions ("y") in the sequence b, you have to calculate * the appropriate k and then y: * * k = forwardK - d + i * 2 * y = k + x * * (substitute backwardK for forwardK if you want to get the * y position for an entry in the "backward" array. */ EditPaths forward = new ForwardEditPaths(); EditPaths backward = new BackwardEditPaths(); /* Some variables which are shared between methods */ protected int beginA, endA, beginB, endB; protected Edit edit; abstract class EditPaths { private IntList x = new IntList(); private LongList snake = new LongList(); int beginK, endK, middleK; int prevBeginK, prevEndK; /* if we hit one end early, no need to look further */ int minK, maxK; // TODO: better explanation final int getIndex(int d, int k) { // TODO: remove if (((d + k - middleK) % 2) != 0) throw new RuntimeException(MessageFormat.format(JGitText.get().unexpectedOddResult, Integer.valueOf(d), Integer.valueOf(k), Integer.valueOf(middleK))); return (d + k - middleK) / 2; } final int getX(int d, int k) { // TODO: remove if (k < beginK || k > endK) throw new RuntimeException(MessageFormat.format(JGitText.get().kNotInRange, Integer.valueOf(k), Integer.valueOf(beginK), Integer.valueOf(endK))); return x.get(getIndex(d, k)); } final long getSnake(int d, int k) { // TODO: remove if (k < beginK || k > endK) throw new RuntimeException(MessageFormat.format(JGitText.get().kNotInRange, Integer.valueOf(k), Integer.valueOf(beginK), Integer.valueOf(endK))); return snake.get(getIndex(d, k)); } private int forceKIntoRange(int k) { /* if k is odd, so must be the result */ if (k < minK) return minK + ((k ^ minK) & 1); else if (k > maxK) return maxK - ((k ^ maxK) & 1); return k; } void initialize(int k, int x, int minK, int maxK) { this.minK = minK; this.maxK = maxK; beginK = endK = middleK = k; this.x.clear(); this.x.add(x); snake.clear(); snake.add(newSnake(k, x)); } abstract int snake(int k, int x); abstract int getLeft(int x); abstract int getRight(int x); abstract boolean isBetter(int left, int right); abstract void adjustMinMaxK(int k, int x); abstract boolean meets(int d, int k, int x, long snake); final long newSnake(int k, int x) { long y = k + x; long ret = ((long) x) << 32; return ret | y; } final int snake2x(long snake) { return (int) (snake >>> 32); } final int snake2y(long snake) { return (int) snake; } final boolean makeEdit(long snake1, long snake2) { int x1 = snake2x(snake1), x2 = snake2x(snake2); int y1 = snake2y(snake1), y2 = snake2y(snake2); /* * Check for incompatible partial edit paths: * when there are ambiguities, we might have * hit incompatible (i.e. non-overlapping) * forward/backward paths. * * In that case, just pretend that we have * an empty edit at the end of one snake; this * will force a decision which path to take * in the next recursion step. */ if (x1 > x2 || y1 > y2) { x1 = x2; y1 = y2; } edit = new Edit(x1, x2, y1, y2); return true; } boolean calculate(int d) { prevBeginK = beginK; prevEndK = endK; beginK = forceKIntoRange(middleK - d); endK = forceKIntoRange(middleK + d); // TODO: handle i more efficiently // TODO: walk snake(k, getX(d, k)) only once per (d, k) // TODO: move end points out of the loop to avoid conditionals inside the loop // go backwards so that we can avoid temp vars for (int k = endK; k >= beginK; k -= 2) { if (Thread.interrupted()) { throw new DiffInterruptedException(); } int left = -1, right = -1; long leftSnake = -1L, rightSnake = -1L; // TODO: refactor into its own function if (k > prevBeginK) { int i = getIndex(d - 1, k - 1); left = x.get(i); int end = snake(k - 1, left); leftSnake = left != end ? newSnake(k - 1, end) : snake.get(i); if (meets(d, k - 1, end, leftSnake)) return true; left = getLeft(end); } if (k < prevEndK) { int i = getIndex(d - 1, k + 1); right = x.get(i); int end = snake(k + 1, right); rightSnake = right != end ? newSnake(k + 1, end) : snake.get(i); if (meets(d, k + 1, end, rightSnake)) return true; right = getRight(end); } int newX; long newSnake; if (k >= prevEndK || (k > prevBeginK && isBetter(left, right))) { newX = left; newSnake = leftSnake; } else { newX = right; newSnake = rightSnake; } if (meets(d, k, newX, newSnake)) return true; adjustMinMaxK(k, newX); int i = getIndex(d, k); x.set(i, newX); snake.set(i, newSnake); } return false; } } class ForwardEditPaths extends EditPaths { @Override final int snake(int k, int x) { for (; x < endA && k + x < endB; x++) if (!cmp.equals(a, x, b, k + x)) break; return x; } @Override final int getLeft(int x) { return x; } @Override final int getRight(int x) { return x + 1; } @Override final boolean isBetter(int left, int right) { return left > right; } @Override final void adjustMinMaxK(int k, int x) { if (x >= endA || k + x >= endB) { if (k > backward.middleK) maxK = k; else minK = k; } } @Override final boolean meets(int d, int k, int x, long snake) { if (k < backward.beginK || k > backward.endK) return false; // TODO: move out of loop if (((d - 1 + k - backward.middleK) % 2) != 0) return false; if (x < backward.getX(d - 1, k)) return false; makeEdit(snake, backward.getSnake(d - 1, k)); return true; } } class BackwardEditPaths extends EditPaths { @Override final int snake(int k, int x) { for (; x > beginA && k + x > beginB; x--) if (!cmp.equals(a, x - 1, b, k + x - 1)) break; return x; } @Override final int getLeft(int x) { return x - 1; } @Override final int getRight(int x) { return x; } @Override final boolean isBetter(int left, int right) { return left < right; } @Override final void adjustMinMaxK(int k, int x) { if (x <= beginA || k + x <= beginB) { if (k > forward.middleK) maxK = k; else minK = k; } } @Override final boolean meets(int d, int k, int x, long snake) { if (k < forward.beginK || k > forward.endK) return false; // TODO: move out of loop if (((d + k - forward.middleK) % 2) != 0) return false; if (x > forward.getX(d, k)) return false; makeEdit(forward.getSnake(d, k), snake); return true; } } }
Main method
Params:
  • args – two filenames specifying the contents to be diffed
/** * Main method * * @param args * two filenames specifying the contents to be diffed */
public static void main(String[] args) { if (args.length != 2) { System.err.println(JGitText.get().need2Arguments); System.exit(1); } try { RawText a = new RawText(new java.io.File(args[0])); RawText b = new RawText(new java.io.File(args[1])); EditList r = INSTANCE.diff(RawTextComparator.DEFAULT, a, b); System.out.println(r.toString()); } catch (Exception e) { e.printStackTrace(); } } }